


Accident

by RuArcher (Coriesocks)



Series: Shipmas 2018 [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Christmas fic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Injury, Light Angst, M/M, Secret Relationship, Shipmas 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 05:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17177039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coriesocks/pseuds/RuArcher
Summary: James has an accident





	Accident

**Author's Note:**

> Shipmas fic no. 9  
> Prompt: Christmas in St Mungo’s doesn’t have to be all bad

When McGonagall summoned him, Lily, and Albus to her office late that morning, Teddy’s first thought was that something awful had happened to Harry. As the three of them huddled together nervously in front of her desk, she uttered the words no one ever wants to hear— _I’m afraid there’s been an accident_ —and his blood turned to ice. Lily’s hand, the one that wasn’t fiercely gripping his, flew to her mouth to muffle a panicked whimper, and on his other side, Albus paled, his hands twisted into his robes, knuckles white. McGonagall’s next words did nothing to calm Teddy, they just swirled around in his head, mocking his inability to do anything to help— _James has fallen off his broom. He’s in St Mungo’s, but his condition is stable_. She briefly went into more detail about his injuries, no doubt sanitising things for the sake of Lily and Albus, and thankfully it seemed like things weren’t as bad as Teddy first imagined, but nothing could stop his mind from supplying all sorts of horrible images of James’ mangled body lying undiscovered in an icy field.

Lily and Albus Floo’d directly to St Mungo’s from McGonagall’s fireplace, but Teddy decided to stay in school to teach his afternoon classes. He reasoned that he’d only get in the way at the hospital. And besides, how could he keep their relationship a secret if he turned up at St Mungo's out of his mind with worry? James wouldn’t want his love life exposed like that. The sad look McGonagall gave him suggested she might have (correctly) assumed their relationship was more than people knew.

“I’m sorry, Teddy,” she said kindly once the two of them were alone. “I know you and James are…close. While I would appreciate it if you can stay until I’ve found someone to cover your classes, I understand if you can’t.” 

Oh, how Teddy wanted to take her up on that offer. An offer which more than confirmed she knew just how close he and James were. But he couldn’t. Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus wouldn’t want him there, getting in the way. James needed his family around him at this time, not his boyfriend of little more than a week.

“Thank you, Professor McGonagall, but I think I’ll stay, at least until this evening, if that’s okay?”

She nodded, lips pursed. “Certainly. Send me an owl when you’re ready to leave and you may use my Floo. And it’s Minerva, please.”

“Thank you, Prof— Minerva.”

“No problem at all. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind informing young master Malfoy that his friend is alright so he can stop wearing a hole in my floor.”

Teddy left the Headmistress’ office feeling shaken, but he tried to remain positive. James would be okay—he had to be. 

The afternoon dragged, and Teddy’s mind was anywhere but on his work. He kicked himself for thinking he’d be able to concentrate when it felt like his entire world was ending, so as soon as his classes were done for the day, he shoved a few things into a bag and dashed back to the Headmistress’ office. He was beyond caring what anyone thought—let them assume what they wanted about his and James’ relationship. He needed to see James; needed to check with his own eyes that James was okay.

————

The sterile, white walls of St Mungo’s always made Teddy feel uneasy. He didn’t trust places that could be hosed down with a liberal _Aguamenti_. It was like they were preparing for the worst (they probably were, but did they have to make it look so obvious?). The Mediwitch was silent as she lead him through a labyrinth of hallways; various waiting areas, corridors, and rooms branching off on both sides. He hoped they weren’t expecting him to be able to find his own way out.

They rounded a corner that looked the same as every other corner, and Teddy suddenly found himself faced with a crowd of people milling around a closed door. Some were sitting on those hellishly uncomfortable wooden benches St Mungo’s provided, some were leaning against the wall, others were just sat on the floor. Everyone looked exhausted, worried, drained, and like they’d rather they were anywhere but waiting in a hospital. It was only when someone cried out, “Teddy!” that he realised it was his family…or, well, his sort-of family, but not in any way related (an important point, considering the things he’d both done and hoped to do to the boy who was presumably behind the door.)

Lily launched herself into his arms, crushing him in a hug and as one, the mass of weary heads turned in his direction and he found himself wishing he’d thought up a reasonable excuse for visiting. His only thoughts had been for James though. 

As Lily sat back down beside Albus, Harry approached, and Teddy swallowed nervously. 

“Teddy, I’m so glad you could make it.”

“It’s..it’s fine. I wish I could have been here sooner, but—”

“Please, don’t worry about it. He’s just woken up so you would only have been bored.” Harry laughed breathily, although it wasn’t much of a joke. He looked absolutely shattered and appeared to have aged at least ten years in the space of a day.

“Is he..he’s going to be okay, right?” The sight of all the Weasleys and Potters had stoked the panic in Teddy’s belly, making him think that perhaps things were every bit as bad as he’d been imagining, despite McGonagall’s attempt at reassurance. 

“Yes! Yeah, he’s strong, James is. Resilient, like his old man. Ginny’s in with him now. Thought I’d give them a few minutes alone.” There was that breathy chuckle again—Harry’s way of trying to show that his life hadn’t almost been ripped apart. The attempted humour didn’t reach his eyes, though, which told Teddy that things had been a lot worse than they were now. Harry placed a reassuring hand on Teddy’s shoulder and squeezed, the small smile on his lips quivering slightly before something broke and he pulled Teddy in for a tight hug. 

“He’s okay. You said he’s going to be okay,” Teddy murmured into his shoulder, both to reassure himself and to remind Harry of what he’d just said. _Please let it not have been a lie,_ he thought desperately.

“I know, I know,” Harry said, his voice thick with emotion. “I just. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost him. He’s still my baby boy. I…I’ve not said anything to the others, but it was touch and go for a little while…I don’t know how…”

“Shhhh. It’s okay. He’s going to pull through and you two will be bickering about Quidditch again in no time.” It felt strange, almost like he was being a parental figure to Harry, even though he was so desperately worried about James himself, but then Harry had probably spent the day being strong for everyone else. Teddy squeezed him a little more tightly and rubbed a hand over his back. He regretted his decision to stay at work even more now. Okay, so he wouldn’t have been much use to James, but he could have been there for Harry—the man who was always there for him no matter how big or small his problem.

Harry pulled away after a few minutes, his eyes a little redder than they had been. He gave Teddy a pat on the shoulder and smiled apologetically before walking away and disappearing inside James’ room.

Teddy looked around, searching for somewhere unobtrusive to sit, then settled on the floor a short distance from where Lily and Albus were playing a muted game of cards. A few moments later, the door cracked open and Ginny beckoned for her two youngest children. Teddy fought down the urge to leap to his feet and demand to be let in too. He wished he could go in and see James, but without announcing their relationship to everyone, he doubted anyone would let him jump to the front of the queue. So, he steeled himself for a long wait on the unforgiving corridor floor and hoped no one would question him as to his presence.

It wasn’t long before the door opened again and a now smiling, but still teary Lily and Albus emerged into the corridor. Teddy saw several people move toward the door, Ron and Hermione amongst them— _when had they arrived? Had they been there the whole time?_ —so he looked back at the book in his lap, resigned to wait longer for his turn to see James.

“Teddy?”

Teddy looked up to find everyone looking at him. “Um, yeah? Sorry, did you say something?” _Had something happened to James?_

“You can go in now—James asked to see you. _Alone._ ” Ginny managed to lace that last word such meaning, he wondered how much she knew.

“He did?” he asked dumbly as he pushed himself off the floor.

Ginny nodded and smiled, but said nothing. Teddy was glad she didn’t look annoyed, unlike other members of her family. As he brushed past her and reached for the door handle, she spoke quietly, so only he could hear. “I can give you five minutes, maybe ten, but any more than that and my mum is going to tear the door off the hinges to get inside.” And Teddy knew she _knew_. Her voice wasn’t unkind though, so he smiled his understanding and slipped into James’ room.

———

Teddy slowly scanned the room, taking in every detail; the many bunches of flowers that had already swallowed the small side table; the balloons tied to the foot of the bed that bobbed in breeze Teddy had let into the room; the small collection of soft toys and cards that had been relegated to a rickety chair in the corner. There was a large window providing an impressive view of the London skyline, multicoloured Christmas lights and harsh orange street lights twinkling in the rainy night and on the wall opposite the bed, a door lead off to what was probably a private bathroom. He looked everywhere except at the boy in the hospital bed. Now that he was actually here, he couldn’t bring himself to look at him. 

“What’s a guy got to do to get a snog from his boyfriend?” 

Teddy could avoid it no longer. He snapped his eyes to the boy in the bed and immediately his breath caught in his throat. James was a little pale, but he was still so _James_ —grinning broadly and reclining back in the bed as if he were at a fancy spa instead of recovering from a near-death accident. “You absolute twat,” Teddy growled, tearing his gaze away from James’ hazel eyes for a moment. “I thought... I mean… I was so worried! You could have died!” He took a few steps closer and wrapped his fingers around the hand James was resting on the blanket, relishing the warmth, his pulse thrumming below the skin. _James was alive. He was fine._

“But I didn’t. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.” James grin stretched wider and he squeezed Teddy’s hand back.

“ _Don’t need to worry?_ What the fuck actually happened? McGonagall barely said anything!”

James averted his eyes and picked at the blanket with his free hand. “Ah, well. I was at Gran’s, just flying around, you know, as you do, and then like, this pigeon just comes out from nowhere, like woah. So I had to pull up, but the broom was this crappy thing I borrowed from the shed and it was unresponsive as _fuck_ and just, I dunno, faltered or stalled or whatever and threw me to the ground.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a professional Quidditch player?”

“Yeah, but none of my training has taught me how to handle a shitty twenty-year-old broom!”

“But how did falling off a broom turn into….into this? You fall off all the time!”

“Wow, thanks, Ted. But, well, it turns out an iced-over pond is a really bad place to land. A little like slamming into concrete, as it happens.” He glanced up at Teddy, grinning sheepishly.

“Merlin, Jamie. You really could have died,” Teddy said quietly, rubbing his hand over his mouth. He couldn’t believe how close he’d come to losing him. The thought made him want to cling to James and never let him go.

“Yeah, I know,” James said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was the faint beep of the monitoring charm and the muffled voices of James’ family beyond the door.

“So, um. Your mum knows, by the way. About us,” Teddy said cautiously, breaking the silence.

James’ cheeks flushed. “Oh… yeah. That’s…I know we agreed to keep it quiet for now, but apparently I was saying your name when I was out of it and she, um. She had a few questions once I woke up.” 

“Oh? I mean, it’s fine,” Teddy added quickly to soothe James’ obvious worry. “I don’t mind. She didn’t try and kill me so she must approve, right?”

“Yeah! She was completely cool with it. I don’t think she was even surprised, actually.” James chuckled

“Really?” Silence fell again, but it wasn’t awkward. Teddy slowly rubbed circles into James’ hand with his thumb as he tried to imagine how the rest of the Potters and Weasleys would react to the news of their relationship once they went public with it. Would he still get invited to family dinners and parties, or would he be shunned? At least they apparently had Ginny on side, although it might make Christmas a little awkward, knowing that she knew, but not knowing if she’d told anyone. “So, how long are they keeping you in for?” he asked, suddenly realising that an awkward Christmas at the Burrow might not even be an issue anymore.

James looked away, his face falling. “Ahh. They, um. They said a week or two. It depends on how well my bones fuse. And they said something about my head? I don’t know. I mean, I feel a bit sore, but I’m fine! My manager’s being a shit and isn’t letting them cut corners, though.”

“Well…that’s a good thing, surely?” Teddy knew James would be trying to sweet talk his way out of hospital as soon as possible, so it was a relief to know the healers were listening to his manager.

“Yeah, but they might want to keep me in over Christmas!” James cried, his distress obvious. 

Teddy winced. He’d momentarily forgotten how much of a big deal ‘family’ was for James. He only had his Gran…and, well, Draco and Scorpius too, but that was nothing compared to the plethora of relatives James had. “It’ll be fine. So what if they keep you in St Mungo’s all Christmas, it won’t be all bad. I’ll stay with you.”

“You will?”

“Of course. I—”

The door burst open, cutting Teddy off. He leapt back, dropping James’ hand in just enough time to avoid being crushed by Molly Weasley as she rushed in to hug her grandson. She engulfed him in her embrace, then ran her hands all over him, patting him down and checking for injury. Teddy stepped back and couldn’t help but smile at James’ mixture of joy and discomfort as he squirmed in his Gran’s arms. Teddy caught his eye, then smiled and waved goodbye before carefully slipping out of the room. Now that he knew James was okay, he felt lighter, more relaxed.

He didn’t care where he spent Christmas as long as he was with James.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Find me on tumblr @ [coriesocks](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/coriesocks)


End file.
